


In That Way

by senditothemoon



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, and neither does ennoshita, everyone is confused about their sexuality because highschool, tanaka doesnt realise how gay he is, tanaka is in denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 19:30:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9563225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senditothemoon/pseuds/senditothemoon
Summary: Being friends with Tanaka Ryuunosuke was like babysitting a toddler; he was much too loud, much too excitable and had hardly any hair. So, when Ennoshita realised he was in love with this toddler, he started to question his sanity just a little bit.Or ‘The One With A Pining Ennoshita And A Tanaka That Has No Idea What’s Good For Him.’





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Haikyuu fic I've ever written and i was a little nervous to post it so feedback of any kind would be really appreciated ^^

At first Ennoshita thought that the warm feeling he felt in his chest, whenever he looked over at Tanaka, was nothing more than a display of the fondness he felt for his teammate, like that of the bond between someone and their unruly younger sibling. But when the warmth started to grow, and grow, and grow until it was this fiery heat that set his entire body ablaze, Ennoshita had to come to terms with the fact that this feeling was probably a little more than ‘fondness’. 

It was easy enough to act like he felt nothing. Especially when Tanaka said or did anything because, most of the time, Ennoshita was too busy telling him off for being immature to focus on the reasons he had a crush on him. It was harder during matches though. When the atmosphere was tense. When everyone was focused. When Tanaka was actually acting his age, his face red, chest heaving, sweat dripping down his toned biceps-

Everyone quickly turned toward the entrance as Takeda Sensei came hurtling through it, “I have good news everyone!” he gasped a he wafted a few sheets of paper above his head.

“Did you run all the way here?!” A concerned couch Ukai asked as he rushed over to support the gasping mess who looked as if he could topple over at any second.

“I’m fine, Ukai-kun.” Takeda smiled before turning to face the crowd of sweaty high school boys who were curiously waiting to hear what he was so excited about.

“Is everything okay, Sensei?” asked Daichi.

“Yes, yes of course! I rushed over here as soon as it was confirmed, but I managed to convince Nekomata Sensei to let Karasuno participate in the away games in Tokyo.”

Almost every member of the team released a sigh of astonishment and, if Ennoshita didn’t know any better, he would’ve said that Hinata and Kageyama’s eyes were sparkling.

“However,” Takeda continued, the word shooting an arrow of misery through everyone’s chests, “if anyone fails next month’s exams, you won’t be able to attend as the resit exams are being held on the same weekend.” 

The gymnasium was suddenly engulfed in an eerie silence as the rest of the team slowly turned to look at the four idiots who seemed as if they’d just been told they had three minutes left to live.

 

“It’ll be okay,” Daichi said while they were getting changed in the club room, “if the four of you can just study hard enough then you should be able to pass the test first time.”

“Study?! But what about practice?” Tanaka wailed.

“You should be able to do both.” Ennoshita told him impatiently as he tugged his jersey over his head.

“Chikara, you have to help me.” Tanaka pleaded, both hands tugging on Ennoshita’s bare shoulders, the sudden contact making Ennoshita painfully aware of how naked he was, turning him into a flustered mess.

“Wha- how am I supposed to do that?” 

“Tutor me, just help me study in any way you can. Please.”

“Help me too!” Noya interjected, bouncing in between them and breaking the hold that Tanaka had on Ennoshita.

“Guys, I don’t think-”

“We can help too if you want.” Offered Narita, as he and Kinoshita came over to join the conversation.

“Really?” grinned Noya as the two of them nodded amusedly, “That’s awesome, thanks guys!”

“Yeah we really appreciate it.” Nodded Tanaka enthusiastically, “If everyone’s free tonight, you can all come around to mine and we can study.”

“That’s a great idea.” Agreed everyone, except for Ennoshita who suddenly felt a little nervous about going to Tanaka’s house.

“You in, Chikara?” Tanaka asked expectantly.

“It would appear as if you two need as much help as you can get…so yeah count me in I guess.” He shrugged, shooting an unenthusiastic smile Tanaka’s way.

 

Ennoshita had expected a lot of things to happen that night, studying wasn’t one of them and coming out definitely was not one of them. So, when he blurted out the two most incriminating words he could ever say in the middle of a heated discussion on who the hottest girl in the year was, he had never felt more ill-prepared in his entire life. 

“You’re what?” asked Narita as he gawked at Ennoshita who was trying to figure out whether his expression was excited or just plain horrified. 

“I’m…I’m…a little embarrassed.” He mumbled in response, mainly to himself, as he searched for a proper answer.

“You’re gay?!” Nishinoya shouted, as he jumped up and grinned excitedly at his friend.

“Who’s gay?” Tanaka’s sister asked as her head appeared around the side of the door as if by magic.

“Chikara is!” grinned Nishinoya as he pointed over at his friend whose face was now smothered in the palms of his hands out of embarrassment.

“Ennoshita?! Is this true?” she asked.

“I guess.” He sighed, slowly looking up from his hands wearing an expression of complete and utter annoyance only for it to be wiped off straight away as Saeko’s arms were wrapped around his shoulders.

“Awww, I’m so proud of you.” She told him.

“You are?” Ennoshita asked nervously.

“Of course, it must’ve been really hard to come out, I can’t imagine how scared you were.”

“Well, if I’m honest, it was more of an accident really.”

“Accident or not, what really matters is that you’re out of the closet now and you can finally be yourself.” Saeko smiled as she gave Ennoshita another big squeeze before standing up again.

“Yeah and you can finally stop ‘discretely’ checking out my rippling muscles whenever I take my shirt off.” Tanaka winked.

“What? Not once have I ever ‘checked you out’. Discretely or otherwise.” Ennoshita told him indignantly, an expression of utter disgust smeared across his face. He was lying, but he thought he actually had been discrete enough to get away with it.

“You’re so full of yourself, Ryuu.” Said Saeko, giving her brother’s arm a punch.

“Ouch! It was just a joke.” He grumbled, rubbing his bicep as he glared up at his sister. 

 

Ennoshita couldn’t have wished for a better coming out, everyone who knew so far was more accepting than he ever could’ve imagined. He felt at peace almost and he would’ve stayed that way if Tanaka hadn’t opened his mouth the next day at practice and said just about the worst thing ever.

“I found a guy for you.”

“You did what now?” Ennoshita almost dropped his water bottle as he stared up at Tanaka who had just jogged over to the bench where Ennoshita was sat.

“There’s this guy in my English class, who I think you’d really like.” If it wasn’t for the expectant grin on his face, Ennoshita would’ve thought that Tanaka was playing some kind of cruel joke on him. 

“Uhhh, I appreciate the gesture, Ryuu, but I don’t think I really want to meet with this guy.” Ennoshita told him, his heart sinking as he watched the grin fall from Tanaka’s face.

“Really? Cus I kinda already told him you’d go out with him.” 

“What?! Why the hell would you do that?!” This man was an idiot. An idiot that Ennoshita now had the urge to punch in the stomach, well maybe if he didn’t look so damn hot innocently biting his lip like that.

“Well I just thought cus y’know, you’re gay and he’s gay…”

“So, you thought, just because we’re both gay, that I’d automatically fall in love with him?” Ennoshita was now stood up, furiously pulling at his hair and wondering what he ever found attractive about this idiot.

“Well maybe not fall in love…” That was a rhetorical question you idiot!

“You’re missing the point here, I’m saying that just because I’m into guys does not mean I’m into every guy out there. I mean come on, you’re not seriously gonna tell me that you’re attracted to every girl you see.”

“Well if she’s cute I guess—” 

“Oh, you are unbelievable.” 

“So, that’s a no on dating this guy?”

Ennoshita was this close to biting his teammate’s head off, but he figured a throaty growl would have to be enough to convince Tanaka of his hostility. 

“Dating a guy?” 

Ennoshita hadn’t realised that while he was being tormented by this clueless straight boy, Hinata had crept up behind him.

“Hinata?! I…uh…”

“Sorry, I just came to get my knee pads and over heard something that m-maybe I shouldn’t have?” it was hard to be mad at Hinata, well unless you were Kageyama, he had this way of looking so scared and apologetic that made Ennoshita turn into a real softie.

“It’s fine Hinata, Tanaka just made a very big mistake.” Ennoshita said with a soothing smile.

“So, you’re not dating a guy?” Hinata asked innocently and Ennoshita decided he was pushing his luck a bit with the question. 

He was about to give Hinata a firm no when Suga poked his head over the nearest net and asked, “Ennoshita’s dating a guy?” 

“Who’s dating a guy?” Daichi chimed in as well which left Ennoshita wondering why he’d never noticed how nosy his teammates were.

“Ennoshita is, apparently.” Suga told Daichi nonchalantly, the notion that Ennoshita was gay seemingly not bothering either of them in the slightest. Which was reassuring but still, Ennoshita didn’t want people to think he was dating someone when he wasn’t. 

“What? No! I-I’m not dating anyone, this is all just a misunderstanding.” Ennoshita told the small crowd that had now gathered around him before he sent a piercing glare back at Tanaka who jumped back a little out of fright.

“You’re not? Aww I was actually excited for a second there.” Suga told him.

“You were?”

“I thought you were finally coming out.”

“Finally? wait—you knew?!”

“Well you didn’t exactly make it discrete when you were checking out Tanaka’s rippling muscles.” Suga told him with an eyebrow waggle.

“I knew it!!” Tanaka shouted, as he jumped up and pointed an accusatory finger in Ennoshita’s direction.

“It was a joke Tanaka.” Suga said, holding back a small giggle.

“Oh.” Tanaka deflated a little but not enough to stop him from throwing an arm around Ennoshita’s shoulders, nearly knocking them both over, “Well whatever the case, now that the secrets out, you’re free to check me out as openly as you wish. And it still remains a mystery whether you have done before or not.”

Even if he was the most flustered he’d ever been in his life and even if it didn’t mean anything to Tanaka, having his crush’s arm around him was oddly comforting. But he decided that he needed to brush it off. For his own sanity. And he was also worried that he may spontaneously combust if he came into contact with Tanaka for too long.

 

As practice was finishing, and the team was tidying up, Ennoshita was left with a warm feeling of pride. Everyone knew. At least everyone who mattered to him. He took a deep breath; he could finally breathe easy.

“Hey,” Noya had walked over without Ennoshita realising and was stood at the bottom of the net looking up at Ennoshita expectantly as he unhooked it, “do you by any chance have a crush on Ryuu?”

Ennoshita’s heart stopped. How did he know? He wasn’t doing anything that would give himself away. As far as he knew.

“It was just a hunch, but considering how red your cheeks are, maybe I’m right?” 

If it were anybody else, Ennoshita would have denied his feelings. But he knew he could trust Noya, and he figured there was no better person to confide in than Tanaka’s best friend. Or maybe he just desperately needed someone to talk to and this was God’s way of saying ‘go for it’.

“How did you know?” Ennoshita finally asked trying to ignore the nerves that had suddenly swallowed him whole.

“It’s the way you look at him above everything else. And the way you act around him. And the way you talk to him. To the untrained eye, it may seem like any old interaction between friends, but I know you Chikara, and I know what pining looks like.” Noya Folded his arms triumphantly and widened his stance as Ennoshita quickly glanced around to see if anyone was in earshot. They were all having their own conversations, which meant Ennoshita could swiftly end his.

“It’s not pining.” Ennoshita said, “It’s just a little crush. And it’ll go away. Eventually.”

Noya snorted. “Okay, but until then, I’ll be your wingman.”

“Oh god.” Ennoshita sighed to himself, quickly regretting his decision to confide in such an idiot.

“I have a plan, okay?” 

“This doesn’t sound good.” Ennoshita groaned, his whole body slumping towards the ground.

“You’ll see.” Noya grinned, “Just follow my lead.”

“I don’t trust you at all right now.” 

“Have a little faith in me, Chikara.” Noya said slyly as he began to jog off towards the cupboard.

 

Ennoshita’s stomach was tied in knots as he waited outside of the club room with Tanaka, they were sat waiting for the other second years so they could all go to Tanaka’s house together for another night of studying. Or in Tanaka and Noya’s case, seeing who could launch the most pencils into the bin from the furthest away. It had already been about 10 minutes and each minute came with another wave of anxiety as he anxiously awaited what Noya had planned. 

“I just got a text from Noya.” Tanaka said, breaking off from his previous conversation about a cute girl he’d seen the other day. “Go on without us three, we have food poisoning from some food I made today.”

Ennoshita couldn’t believe Noya’s master plan was to come up with such a lame excuse. Oh, who was he kidding? This was Noya, of course he could believe that.

“Guess it’s just us then.” Tanaka grinned, flexing his muscles as he stood up to stretch, “It might be helpful to get a little one on one action.”

Ennoshita was sure that he couldn’t possibly hate Noya more than he did right now, but he was also sure that he’d never been more grateful to anyone more than Noya right now. 

“Maybe since it’s just me you won’t slack off this time.” Ennoshita said as they both started walking home together.

“Maybe.” Tanaka said, resting his hands behind his head as he shot Ennoshita a cheeky grin.

All Ennoshita could do was roll his eyes. Mainly at how annoying it was that he found Tanaka’s cocky attitude so attractive.

“Hey, Chikara, can I ask you something? As a friend.” Tanaka said, his tone softer than usual as he removed his arms from behind his head and shoved them into his pockets instead.

“Sure.” Ennoshita said sceptically. His heart sending blood around his body in waves of anxiety as he tried to figure out what ‘as a friend’ could possibly mean.

“You don’t have to answer, I’m just curious.” He added quickly, his vision suspiciously focused on the ground rather than Ennoshita.

“What..?” 

“Would you do me?”

“Huh?” Ennoshita turned to Tanaka with eyebrows that were raised up to heaven.

“It’s just ever since yesterday, I’ve been wondering.” Tanaka admitted, his face glowing read as he scratched the back of his head.

“Uhh, well I mean-” Ennoshita couldn’t help but stumble over his words. What was he supposed to say? Yes, Tanaka, I would absolutely 100% do you.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to be embarrassing.” Tanaka said quickly once he heard Ennoshita’s response.

“Don’t worry, I’m not embarrassed. Just a little surprised. What made you ask all of a sudden?”

“Just curious.” He shrugged, “and you know me, forever unable to remove the foot stuck in my mouth.”

“That is true.” Ennoshita chuckled as Tanaka gently nudged him.

“You never answered the question.” Tanaka told him quietly once the giggling was over and the air had cleared again.

Ennoshita took a deep breath, he couldn’t tell the truth, for fear that he would scare Tanaka away. He could say that there was no chance that he ever wanted to do that but that might be too harsh. So, he settled for somewhere in the middle.

“Well, I wouldn’t not do you I guess.” There. Just enough double negatives to leave Tanaka satisfied albeit slightly confused.

“Sweet.” He nodded, finally looking back up and grinning at Ennoshita.

“Would you?” Ennoshita asked, his stomach bubbling over with butterflies.

“Would I do me?” 

A small chuckle calmed the frenzy of nerves bubbling up inside of him, “No, you idiot. Would you do me?”

“Hell yeah.” Out of every response imaginable, ‘hell yeah’ was definitely not on the list of things he’d expected. But he certainly was not complaining.

“Sweet.” He said, making Tanaka laugh as he poked fun at the response he gave earlier. 

They walked a little further, without saying anything. Until Tanaka spoke up, “About earlier…at practice. I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions about that guy. And telling him that you’d go out with him was kind of a dick move.”

“It was,” Ennoshita told him honestly, “but I know you were doing it to be kind so you don’t have to feel bad about.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Ennoshita smiled.

“So just for future reference, you don’t have a type or something I should know about?” Tanaka asked, his eyebrow raised a little too quizzically as he smiled over at Ennoshita.

Well he’s got to be 5’10”, a wing spiker, no hair and have just about the most obnoxious personality you’ve ever seen. “Not exactly.”

“Not exactly? What does that mean?”

“Well it just means that there’s…certain requirements that’s he has to meet…that match up to a specification-”

“Wait.” Thank god Tanaka interrupted when he did because Ennoshita had absolutely no idea how he was going to bullshit his way through the rest of that explanation, “There’s already a guy isn’t there? That explains why you rejected that guy from my English class.”

“Since when did you get so intuitive?” Ennoshita mumbled, mostly to himself, but the quizzical expression was aimed at Tanaka.

“So I’m right! You have a crush on someone.”

“I never said that.” 

“But it’s true. Ennoshita’s got a crush.” 

“How old are you, five?”

“Come on, who is he?” Tanaka smirked.

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“So there definitely is a guy!! I knew it. Now tell me. Please.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?”

“Please.” He whined, moving his head close enough for his lips to almost graze against Ennoshita’s ear, “It’ll be our little secret.”

“No.” He said, giggling slightly as he swatted Tanaka away.

Tanaka gave out a resigned sigh and pursed his lips, “fine.” And then he stopped, his arms folded and shoulders back as he stood and waited for Ennoshita to notice.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a stand.”

“I was right, you are five.” Ennoshita sighed, massaging his scalp as he trudged over to grab Tanaka’s arm. “We don’t have time for this, let’s go.”

“Not until you give me a clue.” Tanaka said, smirking down at Ennoshita who was in the middle of realising Tanaka was a lot heavier than he thought and it would probably take a lot more than his weight to move him. It’s probably all the muscles, Ennoshita thought.

He gave up and stared at Tanaka blankly. “Umm…he has a dick.” Ennoshita said, hoping that would suffice as clue, “Or at least I hope he does.” Ennoshita added, stealing a quick glance down at the space in between Tanaka’s legs with an eyebrow slightly raised. And for a split second, he was sure that the look on Tanaka’s face meant he’d understood what that look signified.

“Oh, that really narrows it down.” Tanaka said and Ennoshita couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Then he gave up. 

“I’m going home.” He told Tanaka as he threw his arms into the air.

“What?”

“I’ve had enough. If this is all that you’re going to talk about tonight, then I’d rather not help you study.”

“Don’t go, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you were this upset by it.”

Ennoshita didn’t feel like replying. He just wanted to run home and scream into a pillow or something. He knew falling in love with a straight boy was going to be rough, but when that straight boy was also a clueless jackass sometimes, he really couldn’t stomach it.

“I won’t talk about it anymore, I promise.”

“It doesn’t matter. I just want to go home.” Ennoshita said quietly as he turned away for what he thought was the last time.

“Wait.” Tanaka said, the urgency in his tone reflecting the expression he was wearing. He grabbed Ennoshita’s hand but as he stared down at it, he realised he couldn’t speak. His grip loosened slowly. And as he let go he mumbled a few words that only loosely resembled, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

Ennoshita had not been looking forward to practice. He could hardly sleep; his mind was too plagued with questions he wasn’t sure he wanted the answers to. he told himself that yesterday was just an overreaction, but if he was completely honest, he didn’t know how much more of this unrequited pining he could take.

“I’m really sorry.”

Ennoshita turned around to see Tanaka stood in front of him, looking away and starching the back of his head. Signs that could only mean he was just as embarrassed as Ennoshita, if not more so.

“I’m sorry for pestering you last night and for setting you up with that guy and for being a jerk to you. I really could’ve handled your coming out better.”

“It’s fine, I did kind of spring it on you guys without any warning.” Ennoshita wasn’t mad at Tanaka, he’d never been mad at Tanaka. The only person he was mad at was himself.

“That’s no excuse.” Tanaka looked almost angry now, but Ennoshita was sure the feeling was aimed towards himself rather than Ennoshita. “I was a dick. When you said you were gay, all I could think about was you with another guy. And it made me so…uncomfortable. I didn’t want to think about it. But then I realised how awful I was being. I wanted to be there for you, I wanted to be supportive. So, then I thought setting you up with another guy would show my support. And then you rejected him, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relieved…”

Ennoshita could taste the bitter lump in his throat slowly rise and the tears that started to fill his eyes stung more than when you snap an elastic band against your skin, “I can’t listen to this.” He choked out, pushing past Tanaka and towards the bathroom.

 

“Thank god no one’s here.” Ennoshita thought to himself as he looked in the mirror, his white-knuckled hands starting to go numb from clutching the edge of the sink too hard. He didn’t want to look at the snivelling baby standing in the mirror but he couldn’t stop staring. Was he really this fragile? Did Tanaka really mean this much to him? He knew there was no chance of anything happening between them but he never expected that Tanaka would react like this. He felt disgusted. He felt like an idiot. And even more so when he felt his heart still crying out for the man who would never love him back.

“Are you okay?”

Ennoshita felt his heartrate spike as he quickly turned to see who was there, he was relieved to see it wasn’t Tanaka.

“I followed you in here because I thought you looked upset, also I need to pee but mainly the upset thing.” Nishinoya told him as he carefully walked over to the sink next to Ennoshita.

“I’m not upset.” Ennoshita knew that as soon as those words left his mouth accompanied by a sad sniff, that it was the worst lie he’d ever told.

“Oh yeah, you look like you’ve just won the lottery.” Nishinoya huffed, a prudent smile on his face as he folded his arms.

“I’m serious.” 

“Yeah, and so am I.”

“Look, I’m fine, alright?”

“If this is about Tanaka-”

Noya was swiftly cut off as Ennoshita’s anger suddenly took over him. “Not everything is about that idiot, okay?”

“I didn’t say it was but-”

“Look, this isn’t…about…him…” Ennoshita’s sudden burst of anger dissipated quicker than it had boiled to the surface and he couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t care less whether or not Noya saw him cry and quite frankly he didn’t care if anyone saw that he was crying right now.

“I understand how you feel.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that were madly in love with Shimizu Senpai.” Ennoshita retorted, the bitter taste of sarcasm fresh on his tongue.

“I’m not talking about her.” Noya said with a sigh.

“You’re not?” Ennoshita slowly looked at him, he was suddenly confused and his tears came ti an abrupt stop.

It took a few deep breathes until Noya had worked up enough courage to say it, and even then, he found himself unable to look Ennoshita in the eye. “…He’s a third year…and he’s in the volleyball club. He’s almost twice my height and his thighs alone are probably twice my width. Not to mention he looks about twice my age.”

“Asahi-san?” 

“I’ve had a crush on him since I joined the volleyball club.” Noya said, pursing his lips and looking straight at Ennoshita for the first time in what felt like forever.

“Does he know?” 

“You’re the first person I’ve told.” Noya admitted calmly, an air of breeziness to his voice that told Ennoshita how relieved he felt to get this off his chest.

“So, Tanaka doesn’t know?”

“Are you kidding? I’m too terrified to tell anyone. And even when I do psych myself up to tell him, there’s this little voice in my head telling me that it’s just a guy crush and that it’ll pass. But of course, it’s stuck with me for almost two years now.”

“Noya, I’m so sorry.”

“Me too…so you’re not alone I guess. And I know this whole Ryuu thing seems like a train wreck right now but you’ll get over it. Hopefully. It might take you a while but you’ll get over Ryuu eventually.”

“I know I have to…I just really don’t want to. I don’t want to get over him. And I know it’s stupid to hold out hope like this, especially after what he just said-”

“What did he say?”

“Basically, that I make him uncomfortable.” Ennoshita reluctantly admitted, “That me being gay makes him uncomfortable.”

“Chikara!”

The two of them shared a nervous glance before quickly turning to see Tanaka stood in the doorway, his sharp gaze fixed solely on Ennoshita.

“You didn’t let me finish before.” He said, his tone soft as he started walking closer to Ennoshita, “I was going to say that the more I thought about it, I realised that it wasn’t just the thought of you dating guys that made me uncomfortable. It was the thought of you dating anyone.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying…I’d be jealous if…if you dated anyone else.” How Tanaka had managed to keep full eye contact during that whole speech, Ennoshita would never know, he was probably more courageous than he was letting on. “And if that still doesn’t spell it out for you then…” Tanaka swallowed quickly and took a much-needed breath, “Ennoshita Chikara, I like you…in that way.”

“You do?”

“Yup.” Tanaka said, silently nodding his head as he waited for a response.

A timid, “Really?” was all he got.

Tanaka let out an amused chuckle, “Really.”

“I like you in that way too.” 

For a second all either of them could do was smile at each other until Tanaka leaned his head closer to Ennoshita’s and said, “I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” Ennoshita asked, a fresh pang of anxiety hitting him in the gut.

“For having out first kiss in a school bathroom.”

Ennoshita’s whole body started to tremble. Not out of anxiety like it usually did, but out of some beautiful emotion he’d never felt before. If Ennoshita hadn’t known any better, he might’ve called it love. He had no idea that an act so simple could change your perspective completely, it was as if his emotions did a complete 180 the moment his lips met Tanaka’s. He wanted to stay like this forever but of course, reality could never be that kind. 

Hinata’s flustered yelling forced all three of them to quickly turn their attention to the bathroom doorway. And there stood a bright red Hinata incoherently mumbling apologies and looking incredibly flustered. “I-I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” said Hinata, looking a little terrified as he backed out of the bathroom (not that he actually made it inside in the first place) only to trip over his own foot. 

Without hesitation, Ennoshita found himself running over to the poor boy to help him up, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Hinata told him nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Are you sure? You took quite the tumble.” Ennoshita said.

“I’ve been through worse.” 

“Still maybe we should have Takeda sensei take a look at your head.” Ennoshita said, his face ridden with concern as he put his hands on Hinata’s shoulders and walked them both back to the hall.

Tanaka took a deep breath and stopped in the doorway before turning to Noya once the other two were out of sight, “You could’ve told me you know.”

“About what?” Noya asked.

“About Asahi.”

“You heard that, huh?” 

“Yup.” Tanaka nodded, scratching the back of his head as he tried to think of what else to say, “I just…I’m sorry I ever made you think you couldn’t come to me about this sort of stuff.”

“Ryuu, you’re the only person I’ve ever thought I could come to about this stuff. Well except for Ennoshita just now. But before that, you were the only person I considered telling.”

“Bro.” Tanaka raised a hand to his chest and smiled fondly at his friend.

“I just needed to convince myself before I could convince anyone else.”

“I understand.”

“I know.”

“So…you gonna tell him?” 

“Hell no.” 

“Come on, I told Chikara.”

“Yeah but your feelings were mutual.”

“And yours aren’t?”

“I mean…”

“Look, you’ll never know if you don’t try and besides, you’ve been hung up on him for almost 2 years now? Maybe this is the only way to get closure.”

 

“Get a room you two!” 

The last few weeks had been total bliss for Ennoshita and Tanaka, so much so that it was hard for them to keep their hands off each other.

“It’s really hard to study when you two are being so distracting.” 

“Since when have you cared about studying, Nishinoya?” Kinoshita asked, his arms folded firmly as he shot a sceptical smile over to Noya.

“Since the exams are only a few days away and someone doesn’t seem to care that we’re going to fail.” Noya said indignantly turning his nose up at Kinoshita.

“You’re not going to fail.” Ennoshita reassured him, finally pulling away from his boyfriend’s lips, “You just got 70% on that past paper I gave you. If you can do that on the day of the exams, then you’ll be fine.”

“Really?” Noya perked up a little, a grin taking over his face.

“What about me?” Tanaka asked. 

“You, on the other hand, may need some private tutoring.” Ennoshita said, a devilish smirk eating away at his face as he leaned over the table.

“Well if that’s the case, then I guess you better not leave with the others tonight.” Tanaka said, throwing his arms behind his as a rest as he leaned back against the cupboard behind him.

“Well I’d love to stay and watch the next instalment of intense PDA but Asashi just texted me that his shift is over so I’m going to his. Smell you losers later.” Noya told them as he stood up and grabbed his things.

“We’ll leave too, it’s probably best to give these lovebirds a little alone time.” Narita said, standing up as well. They all left pretty swiftly but not without waving goodbye first which left Ennoshita and Tanaka alone. 

“Hey.” Ennoshita smiled fondly at Tanaka as he let himself slowly fall back onto the cupboard next to him.

“Hey.” Tanaka grinned back, leaning in towards Ennoshita, a soft hand placed on his cheek as he pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

A knock on Tanaka’s door pulled both of them out of their kiss, “Come in.” 

Seako pushed the door ajar and poked her around it, “I’m meeting some friends in town and I don’t know what time I’ll be back. Will you two be alright here on your own?” 

The pair shared a quick glance, before Tanaka replied, “Yeah we’ll be fine.”

“Okay but just in case, take this.” Seako held her hand out and waited for Tanaka to come and get it.

“What is it?” He asked as he stood up and took what Seako was offering, blankly looking at it before releasing his sister had just handed him a condom, “What the hell?!”

“Stay safe you two.” She winked.

“Why did you give me this?!”

“I’m just looking out for my little brother.” She said innocently, her sweet tone contradicting the smirk on her face.

Tanaka let out the longest and most frustrated groan that Ennoshita had ever heard, cupping his face in his hands. Ennoshita stood up and walked over to place a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. 

“You’re so lucky you don’t have any siblings.” Tanaka groaned, his embarrassment dispersing slightly when he saw Ennoshita’s sympathetic smile.

“Yeah that was embarrassing.”

“You’re not supposed to say that though.” Tanaka whined.

“Well what do you want me to do?”

“You’re my boyfriend, you’re supposed to make me feel better.”

Without thinking, Ennoshita wrapped both arms around Tanaka’s neck, pulling them closer until their lips met in a burst of desire. His hand slowly started to travel down to the small of Tanaka’s back when Ennoshita pulled them apart and breathlessly whispered into Tanaka’s ear, “Did that make you feel better.” 

The burning sensation he felt from Tanaka’s cheeks was answer enough. And so, he decided to keep on going.


End file.
